Lawyers in C.I.A. Leak Case Seek to Subpoena Journalists

By DAVID JOHNSTON

Published: January 21, 2006

Lawyers for Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff told a federal judge on Friday that they would seek to subpoena reporters and news organizations to obtain additional documents that could assist in his defense in the C.I.A. leak case.

In legal papers filed in federal court, the lawyers for Mr. Cheney's former aide, I. Lewis Libby Jr., did not identify the reporters or news organizations that they intended to subpoena nor did the lawyers identify what kind of information might be sought.

But the lawyers told the federal district judge, Reggie B. Walton, in the filing that Mr. Libby's trial could be delayed by the effort to gather more information from journalists who could be expected to resist the subpoenas. No trial date has been set.

The filing on Friday was a joint submission by the defense and the prosecution, made at the request of the judge in advance of a Feb. 3 hearing on the status of the case. The legal paper, a road map to unresolved issues in the case, suggested there could be bruising legal fights ahead.

The combative tone of the statements by Mr. Libby's defense team seemed to underscore the assertions of his lawyers that they intended to conduct an aggressive legal strategy. Mr. Libby has pleaded not guilty.

It was not clear whether Judge Walton would approve additional subpoenas, or if granted, whether they would survive a legal challenge. Several reporters have already provided testimony and documents in the case to the grand jury -- some after waging lengthy battles in court.

On other matters, defense lawyers said that ''significant disagreements exist'' about the ''nature and scope'' of the government's obligations to turn over material in its possession to Mr. Libby's lawyers, a legal process known as discovery that is a crucial early phase of almost every criminal proceeding.

Defense lawyers said the disagreements centered on issues like whether prosecutors were obliged to turn over to the defense information from the government about how much reporters knew of the employment of Valerie Wilson, the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the case, from sources other than Mr. Libby.

Other disagreements cited by defense lawyers focused on whether the prosecution had to turn over to Mr. Libby's lawyers information about Ms. Wilson's status as a covert employee at the C.I.A.

Another dispute, the defense lawyers said, involves whether prosecutors must relinquish documents in the government's possession about classified briefings and meetings that Mr. Libby attended from May 2003 to March 2004.

In their part of the submission, prosecutors told the judge that they had already turned over more than 10,150 pages of documents to defense lawyers and were preparing to hand over more, including a declassified transcript of Mr. Libby's two grand jury appearances in 2004.

The filing suggested there might be other skirmishes to come. Mr. Libby's lawyers said they had yet to present their request for permission to use other classified documents in his defense, a potentially significant issue if prosecutors challenge the relevancy of the material.

Mr. Libby was indicted in October on five counts of perjury and obstruction of justice, accused of lying to F.B.I. investigators and to the grand jury about his dealings with reporters in the leak case. Mr. Libby, who had been one of the most influential figures in the White House, immediately resigned.